All Ireland Contenders With Tyrone Connections

Sunday 24.11.2013

Club

The ladies club season may have come to an end here in Tyrone but for a couple of Tyrone ex pats there is the small matter of an All Ireland club final to worry about. Anna Hicks from Glenelly and Shauna Mc Williams from Rock are part of the Dunedin Connolly’s from Edinburgh who have made it through to the All Ireland Junior Final which will take place next weekend.
With such Tyrone involvement we thought it only right to feature them and give them our support. Dunedin Connolly’s Edinburgh were formed in 1988 and have been a success story of Scottish GAA ever since, winning 9 Scottish Championships and one British Championship in 2009.
As well as promoting the GAA in Britain through underage coaching, Connolly’s decision to widen their player base and broaden their appeal through the formation of a ladies team in 1998 has been an unqualified success. This year however has been the most successful by far as Dunedin Connolly’s Ladies have won the Junior section of the Paidi O Se tournament in Kerry, the British Club Junior Championship and have just reached the final of the All Ireland Junior Club Championship, beating Shane O’Neill’s of Armagh in the quarter-final and St. Helen’s of Longford in the semi-final. Shane O’Neills beat our own Aghyaran ladies in the Ulster final before losing out to the Scottish top guns.
The commitment displayed through the last year has been incredible with more than seventy training sessions completed and every member of the squad completing a half-marathon to raise money for the team’s travel expenses. The team has players from all four provinces as well as Canada and Scotland. The club is both a meeting place for new Irish immigrants and a way for the Irish in Edinburgh to reach out to the wider community. However the ladies team is facing a funding shortfall due to the heavy expense of travelling around Britain and to Ireland in pursuit of competition, with the majority being covered by the players. The cost of travelling to Ireland for the All-Ireland Final is estimated at five thousand euros, which is well outside of the club’s current budget and additional funds need to be raised in the next two weeks.
The Club is currently searching for additional donations to help them travel to the final on the 30th of November and to ensure their ability to compete next year and into the future.
Any support would be most welcome and the club can be contacted atdeclancullinanejnr@yahoo.com. For those wishing to attend the final on November 30th, throw in is at 1.30pmat Crettyard, Co Laois.